John Lackey can be a solution

Big 2 down, someone must step up

Credit: Matt Stone

GIVE HIM A HAND: John Lackey celebrates after escaping the fourth inning during the Red Sox’ 5-3 victory yesterday at Fenway Park. Lackey was strong again, fanning 12 over seven innings.

Clay Buchholz was the runaway winner for ace honors in the first half of the season.

The first half ends tonight.

Already, the No. 1 concern for the Red Sox in the second half is finding his replacement.

Now that it looks as if Buchholz will not return to the rotation any earlier than next month, if then, the Red Sox really have no choice but to turn to somebody else, somebody more reliable.

Buchholz’ lingering neck soreness, the aborted bullpen session yesterday, the pending MRI results — these are ominous signs from a young pitcher whose reputation for getting hurt is unfortunately keeping pace with his abundant and proven ace stuff.

So who will be the next Buchholz?

Unless Jon Lester finds what he’s looking for — tonight against the Blue Jays would be real good timing — that seems to leave only John Lackey.

Lackey certainly pitched well enough in yesterday’s 5-3 win to qualify: seven innings, two runs, 12 strikeouts, zero walks. His velocity was consistently in the mid-90s, his command was good, he kept Rockies batters off-balance. He was pitching like it was 2007 all over again, and he certainly has been pitching better and better as he gets further removed from last year’s Tommy John surgery. With a 2.99 ERA after 13 starts — his best ERA after 13 since 1997 — Lackey looked almost as good as the 9-0 Buchholz did in his first two-plus months.

Lackey could yet turn into the guy Theo Epstein thought he might be getting when he was giddy about the right-hander before the 2010 season, but remember, he is 34. Age and experience, combined with health, can take a pitcher with Lackey’s talent very far, yet Lackey is going to have to win the perception battle that he has put his 2010-2012 production level in the distant past.

With Buchholz out and Lester struggling mightily, Lackey seemed almost offended that he not be considered as critical to the Red Sox’ hopes the rest of the way.

“I mean, we do have more than two pitchers. We can pitch a little bit, too,” Lackey said after improving to 5-5 on the year.

He conceded the Sox do need Lester and Buchholz but whatever happens, he is going to pitch to his ability and if that elevates his status to ace, so be it.

“Not worried about those guys at all,” Lackey said. “With those guys, with whatever’s happening, I need to pitch well. I’ve been the guy that’s gone first on playoff teams.”

Lester, the Opening Day starter who started so well, is stuck in a slump every bit as concerning as Buchholz’ injury. Lester is healthy and he’s only 29.

With Buchholz down this is the time in the season the Sox need Lester to regain his stuff and status as the club’s ace.

He’s fallen off the rails at the worst time.

“We’ve got to get Jon Lester back on track. He’d be the first to admit (that) to you as well,” manager John Farrell said. “There are signs within each outing that that is imminent. But until that’s strung together a little bit more consistently, and more than anything, it’s the innings. We go through a turn in the rotation where you’ve got two guys going beyond the fifth inning, that’s going to show up in other areas, particularly the bullpen.”

One reason Farrell’s hiring was lauded was that he could help struggling pitchers such as Lester and Daniel Bard.

Life without Buchholz has gone from temporary to what might as well be, until further notice, a permanent situation.

Somebody’s got to step up.

“I firmly believe and am confident that the group we have are very capable of keeping us in a position we are over the next three months,” Farrell said. “At the same time, if you were to ask each guy individually, they know they have a responsibility to themselves, to us as a team, to maintain the pace that we’re on. There’s talent here. There’s no question about it. We’re dealing with a couple of things health-wise with some guys that will come back to us. This is an ongoing thing.”

Unless and until Buchholz returns, this “ongoing thing” may just keep on going.